tacticalterry wrote:OK you cant be serious. first Mr. Richard The grren bus driver that cares about others fuel consumption.......please give me a break. The only thing you should be thinking of is driving the safest fastest route.......OK now for u sleepy baby check this out. Almost all state laws require lights and siren(did u catch the "AND"). however even if they didnt it isnt the car that sees you or that you see that you have to worry about its the one that you dont and that you kill that you worry about. Now honestly I do sempathize with your issue of getting woke up and I used to turn my siren off in neighborhoods till I almost hit a car one night. Now I run religously with it on. If you were in my shoes would you risk your life someone elses or your bank account and house for some guys 30 seconds of discomfort....I mean really do my job for a day and then judge me.For anyone that disagrees with me go do a few ride alongs before you call us names and say we are just feeding our egos. Most of us got into police fire and medical to save lives..........sorry got woke up while I was trying to save somebody!

Having been in EMS for years, there are many places one can safely operate without the SIREN. I always keep the emergency lights on, except when exiting Interstates. Often best to shut all off after one signals and changes lanes the right lane to enter the exit ramp.
Otherwise vehicles ahead often slow and stop in front of you. Also, their slowing and needlessly pulling over exposes them to danger of a collision from behind.
I never assume others hear the siren, so I drive as though they do not.
Even if you had the siren sounding, it may have made no difference.
I use the siren only when necessary.

Why don't police order the driver to pull onto a side street for a traffic stop? I have seen Law Enforcement with a driver in a parking lot, with all lights operating. As drivers look, they have almost collided.

OK sometimes we do move people to other streets but as im sure u know the moment we (police emt or fire) ask them to do something they get instant dumb attack.
You are right if your state allows u to turn off siren then do it when u can be sure its safe. My state doesnt allow it and so I wont risk it. I geuss my point is to the sleepy guy dont cry cause you hear my siren and then assume there were no cars on the road.

Wish I had a Federal Q siren.
You can barely rev it so it produces a low volume output.
But you are meeting the "requirement" that it be sounding.

For railroad grade crossings I sounded the locomotive horn.
The horn valve could be barely opened so the horns were much quieter.
So I sounded legal grade crossing warnings without creating so much noise pollution. (The crossings were protected by lights, bells and gates and all pedestrians and vehicles were stopped.)(Hopefully that area will become a No Horn Zone.)

The whole point of his complaint is the needless noise pollution.
Sirens and the even more powerful locomotive horns blare everywhere, even where and when not needed.

A gripe would be the many people who ignore the lights and sirens and don't pull over.

I lived in a San Francisco, downtown high rise, and I got used to the sounds. One that took some time was the recycling truck picking up thousands of bottles from a popular eatery, just 14 floors below my apartment. I lived in another building, on Market Street, 24 floors up, and this place was so well sealed that you never heard a sound. Reason? A Hong Kong billionaire built it with the idea that his family might need to move there after the return of HK to China. Well built indeed.

Wow! how stupid are you, your complaining about the noise a vehicle makes while on the way to save a persons life....heres an idea lets pull our head out of our _ and think about what we are complaining about

tennisballa wrote:Wow! how stupid are you, your complaining about the noise a vehicle makes while on the way to save a persons life....heres an idea lets pull our head out of our ... and think about what we are complaining about

First of all, few of these runs are real emergencies.The Fire Department and ambulance should never have been called.Secondly, there are many places where the siren is not needed. Where there is no traffic, or where vehicles have already pulled over.At night I saw an ambulance responding red lights and siren on a street where there was no traffic.The only ones to hear the siren were those in their homes. Too bad they can't make sirens very directional so sound does not go into homes and businesses.

I have been living in Manhattan (lower east side) for 2 months and the noise level has changed since I was here last. New city ordinances have put expensive fines on excessive honking so the street traffic is noticeably quieter. See picture for more details.

By contrast, fire and emergency vehicles emit vastly increased levels of noise. Sirens and horns are earsplitting, causing pain and the need to cover one's ears. Ever since the 9-11 attacks, rescue services are much more well funded and have more public rights and presence. Frivolous use of fire engines with horns and sirens blaring is more common, and it is politically incorrect to criticize their abuses. I would almost say that new Yorkers are cowed by the emergency response system. You are constantly reminded of dead heroes here, despite stupid policy being to blame for the death of so many firefighters. They have played their victimhood card well following 9-11. There is something theatrical about the whole situation, as though it were just another superhero comic book story.

Write letters to the Mayor's Office and other appropriate agencies.They love playing with their electronic sirens and making weird noises.Yes, they use them ALL THE TIME when not needed.And they just LOVE blasting sirens in everyone's ears. Big ego kick.

I was in an 18th story apartment at 1 a.m. and heard sirens.Looked out and there was no traffic. Just the emergency vehicle.

They need to learn to stop playing and start becoming more considerate of others.

Robert Gift wrote:As an emergency vehicle (EV) operator, who has also installed sirens, an electronic siren is always at full volume (it is unadjustable) to penetrate better sound-proofed vehicles and be heard with more powerful vehicle stereo systems operating.The mechanical "fire truck" siren can sound at lower volumes by not reving it up as high.

But I certainly agree, there are many occasions where the siren does not need to be sounding.When there is no traffic needing warning and/or traffic has cleared out of the way, I instantly silence the electronic siren.At night, I have made "perfect runs" -entire trips without sounding the siren even once. Other times just a brief "bloop".

On approach of an EV, signal and safely change lanes to the right and stop. (If there is a raised median preventing the EV from crossing over to your side, you need not pull over and stop.)If an EV is approaching head-on, remember it may be turning left in front of you.Also, if there is a raised median, the EV may need to cross over into opposing traffic to get around vehicles stacked up behind a red signal.If you are stopped at a red signal and an EV pulls up behind you, when all other traffic has stopped for the EV, you may proceed through the intersection and then pull right out of the way. So you got a "free pass" to go through a red signal!In my opinion, you need not pull over for those ridiculous funeral procession fake cops speeding to the next intersection. They should not be allowed to have sirens. Sirens are not needed for their tasks.

Robert,

Thanks for your efforts to reduce noise pollution! And for the information on how drivers should respond!

Question: Are you in compliance with public/company policy when you make your effort to have a perfect run?

From where I sit, an occasional siren isn't too annoying, but when it's frequent and added to the tire noise of the highway, the local motor noise, the dogs, the 'fridge and all the other humming-buzzing machines that surround us...it is stressful and has known bad effects on health.

Well done!

"No offense has ever been visited with such severe penalties as seeking to help the oppressed." --Clarence Darrow (quoted in Irving Stone's Clarence Darrow for the Defense, p.83)

larrym82 wrote:Robert,Thanks for your efforts to reduce noise pollution! And for the information on how drivers should respond!Question: Are you in compliance with public/company policy when you make your effort to have a perfect run?From where I sit, an occasional siren isn't too annoying, but when it's frequent and added to the tire noise of the highway, the local motor noise, the dogs, the 'fridge and all the other humming-buzzing machines that surround us...it is stressful and has known bad effects on health.Well done!

This would be in violation of many non-thinking policies.But our Standard Operating Procedure allows one to take responsibility and initiative.The Colorado Revised Statutes read ..."lights or siren"...

If an EV driver is involved in a mishap and the siren was not sounding, the other party in th mishap may claim that no siren was a contributing factor in the accident.

We drive as though the siren is not heard because it may not be heard.Excellent stereo systems and sound-proofed vehicles may make a siren difficult to hear.There are also deaf people.

DE37TIMECH wrote:Unbelievable! You actually posted this??? Complaining about a siren that woke you up??? If it was one of your children would you not want that ambulance, cop, or firetruck to run hot??? Apparently you would rather have them consider that YOUR sleeping. Grow up.

Study after study has shown that siren use does not improve patient outcomes. Siren use triples the risk of injury to ambulance drivers. So many fine workers with triple-digit I.Q.s are looking for work right now. What a shame that this extremely rude siren jockey who is totally unable to read and comprehend simple scientific research is helping himself to taxpayer money that should be going to someone who cares about serving the public.

tacticalterry wrote:OK you cant be serious. first Mr. Richard The grren bus driver that cares about others fuel consumption.......please give me a break. The only thing you should be thinking of is driving the safest fastest route.......My money is that you work for a transport company that doesnt need lights nor siren.........as for the sleepy cry babies....Do my job for a day then comment. I get so sick of reading blogs from people that could do my job better or that say how we did something wrong even though they have no idea what we do them for. A bouncer at a bar told me to turn my blue lights off cause my traffic stop was bothering his customers. Then he got offended when I said get the @#$! away from me. Sorry busy trying not to get hit by passing cars all while keeping an eye on the driver so i dont get shot and deciding if he is DUI plus trying to get D.L. registration and insurance......sorry ur customers are nervouse about some blue lights. OK now for u sleepy baby check this out. Almost all state laws require lights and siren(did u catch the "AND"). however even if they didnt it isnt the car that sees you or that you see that you have to worry about its the one that you dont and that you kill that you worry about. Now honestly I do sempathize with your issue of getting woke up and I used to turn my siren off in neighborhoods till I almost hit a car one night. Now I run religously with it on. If you were in my shoes would you risk your life someone elses or your bank account and house for some guys 30 seconds of discomfort....I mean really do my job for a day and then judge me.For anyone that disagrees with me go do a few ride alongs before you call us names and say we are just feeding our egos. Most of us got into police fire and medical to save lives..........sorry got woke up while I was trying to save somebody!

For anyone that disagrees with me go do a few ride alongs before you call us names and say we are just feeding our egos.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I read that comment. I don't know what happens to people when the sun goes down. I'm pretty sure they believe they are invisible and their stupidity increases after dark as well.I've seen people step on it through an intersection with an oncoming police car that's all lit up w/siren blaring. No, not because they were mid-intersection and trying to get out of the way. They were at a stop and didn't want to wait for the police car to pass before moving along.I've also seen people refusing to move over in addition to people who ignore the lights and siren for several blocks. As if the officer will suddenly decide to forget the violation, and change their mind about giving a citation if they make them follow long enough.There is always a good reason for lights and sirens and it's not likely due to anyone's ego.That thought has never crossed my mind nor have I ever thought anyone was trying to ego feed or be inconsiderate.